13 February 2013 (Day 44) – Two Ambient Gems

I had quite a few commitments today, so had time only for a couple of albums in the early hours at work. Knowing that a frantic day was before me, I chose just about my favourite chill out album.

(118) Aphex Twin – Selected Ambient Works 85 – 92

Aphex Twin is an English electronic composer by the name of Richard D James.  This was his debut album which is now regarded as a masterpiece of electronica, ambient music and dance music.  Basically, James’ idea was to merge all three together and it is surprising how seamless it sounds.  Picking out individual tracks is next to useless; despite the fact that all tracks are separated by silence it takes quite a few listens before this fact even registers.  I’m also reasonably sure that segments from these tracks have been used in commercials and movies ; if I’m wrong this can only be taken as evidence of just how influential this album has become. 

(119) David Byrne – The Complete Score From The Broadway Production Of The Catherine Wheel

One of the reasons Talking Heads broke up was Bryne’s determination to make music on his own without the compromise of the band. I find it quite ironic that my favourite solo Byrne album is this, made whilst he was still in that band.  It was composed to accompany a Twyla Tharp dance production and is mostly instrumental with about five songs with Byrne vocals.  The instrumentals are intriguing. Some of these, especially Two Soldiers and Poison, sound like unfinished Talking Head tracks whilst others such as The Red House sound like outtakes from his collaboration with Brian Eno, My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts. All of the vocal tracks are terrific;  a version of What A Day That Was included in the subsequent Talking Heads Stop Making Sense soundtrack album and it’s not even the best of these.

Needing only a short album to accompany my writing at home I chose:

(120) Marshall Crenshaw – Self Titled

The bespectacled Crenshaw created quite a stir in the United States (or at least in Rolling Stone) when he released this, his debut album.  It comprises 12 power pop lite gems, all extremely likeable and without an ounce of fat.  Only the thin sounding 80s production hurts the album today.  Just how he didn’t progress to become a major star is simply a mystery to me but at least it’s nice to know he’s appreciated in music circles.  The only time I saw him on stage was when he got up to join the remnants of the MC5 during their encores when they played at the Palace around 6 or 7 years ago.